Chesco survey finds 625 homeless

The annual one-day survey of homeless people in Chester County counted 625 people staying in shelters, temporary housing or on the street, according to figures presented by the county Department of Community Development.

That represents a decline over the past three years in the total number of homeless people counted by the county and its volunteers as part of the Annual Homeless Assessment Report that is presented to Congress to gauge the homelessness problem in the country.

The 2013 “Point-in-Time Count,” a national effort sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to determine the number of homeless people, was conducted in the county in the evening of Jan. 30 and the morning of Jan. 31 by hundreds of volunteers inside and outside of county government.

The survey identified individuals and families living in emergency shelters and transitional shelters as well as unsheltered individuals on the street or in places not meant for sleeping, said department director Patrick Bokovich.

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The 2013 numbers are a decline of between 6 percent and 7 percent from 2011, when there were 666 persons counted, and even more from 2010, when the volunteers counted 709. But Bokovich said that belied the problem of unsheltered homeless.

The report stated, “It is notable that the face of homelessness is changing. While over-all numbers are shrinking, and fewer families are in emergency shelters, the amount of people found sleeping on the street has increased, from 24 unsheltered to 43 unsheltered.”

Within Chester County, the Point-in-Time Count is one component of understanding homelessness, and part of the proactive strategy in Decade to Doorways: The Community’s Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness in Chester County.

In Chester County, 43 persons were without shelter, 205 in emergency shelters and 377 in transitional shelters. Of the individuals who were sheltered, 441 were adults without children and there were 49 families, totaling 141 members.

The communities where the 43 unsheltered individuals were counted included 22 in West Chester, 13 in Kennett Square, six in Phoenixville and two in the Coatesville/Downingtown area.

More than 100 volunteers from government, educational and civic organizations took part in the Chester County count, including the county Department of Emergency Services, the county Sheriff’s Office, and West Chester, Immaculata and Penn State universities.